


Life continues

by AvaDiablo



Category: Arashi (Band)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-08
Updated: 2015-06-08
Packaged: 2018-04-03 11:45:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4099762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AvaDiablo/pseuds/AvaDiablo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After having a miscarriage Danny tells Nino she thinks it's better to break up.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Life continues

The radiator in the living room made small ticking noises and seem to moan as it circulated the hot water from room to room. It was the only thing making noise in the house.  
Danny sat on his white couch, one leg pulled up under her, the other propped up. She had both hands around her ankle as she leaned her chin on top. She looked so young in her puffy white sweater and yellow jeans. She wasn't talkative. Her cheeks flustered and tear-stained, her skin almost white as snow. Her eyes, red from crying, stared ahead without seeing much. Once and a while a tear would roll down her cheek.  
She used to be busy with some thing creative like drawing, knitting or playing with the cat when she came over. Her pencils and a half finished drawing lay untouched on the coffee table. It seemed years ago, the last time that they were happy together even though that had been only yesterday. It didn't matter much. 

The radiator ticked and gurgled as water passed. But Nino felt like he would never be warm again. If this was any normal day he would be watching her, teasing her and they would be busy out smarting each other. He hadn't dared to look her way since she came to his house unannounced. 

His phone rang.  
He glared at it where it lay; on the table next to hers. Aiba's "Friendship" played, breaking the silence. He knew he should pick it up. He knew he should have picked up about eight phone calls ago. But he couldn't face what was happening outside of this room. He didn't want Danny to be here all by herself or tell her she should leave.  
Normally he would take precautions against prying eyes, against paparazzi or curious neighbours. Trying to protect them both from the outside world. Basically he was trying his best at keeping her a secret from the rest of the world. The industry in which he worked dealt best if he was single, remained single and would probably die single. And it wasn't as if Danny was pressing him to become serious with her. When they met she wasn't a fan of his. Or rather, he hadn't been her priority. She had been a friend of a friend who worked on Sakurai's News Zero. They were doing a benefit show for hours at the time. She was part of the catering service and he happened to come by to offer some support for the team. Sho-kun invited him to share a meal with his colleagues.  
One thing let to another and here they were almost eighteen months later. 

Danny was past sobbing uncontrollably; she was quiet with a surprise sob once in a while. She had been talking non-stop for a while; words spilling like a waterfall, emotions haywire. He had held her close, let her spill her most inner thoughts until she had pushed him away. Her last words being "Don't touch me!"  
Now she was sitting on the couch and he was sitting halfway across the room; both feet on the ground, elbows leaning on his knees and hands in his hair. For some reason he felt like hiding. A short while ago he had wandered to his bedroom. After closing the door he leaned against it and had started to cry. Letting go on his own had seem precious. But it took all of six seconds, before realisation had set in. Danny wasn't hiding from this. She was dealing with it in front of him, with a grief he understood and yet he couldn't quite relate to it.

But that she didn't feel like being comforted by him made him feel even worse. And hiding in his bedroom seemed to only add to that feeling. Not that sitting in this chair in the living room, listening to the radiator, helped any. He preferred listening to Danny sob over the silence which now hung between them. But she wasn't going to talk and he had given up trying to get her to.

Her phone rang.  
Danny didn't react to it. It buzzed and her ring tone played 'Merry Christmas' the song Nino had composed. It was cheery and full of good spirits.  
"This is so you," she had said when she had first heard it. Christmas had come and gone, New Year's followed and now January was already ending. Nino swallowed. Their history together, if you could even call it that, had become something out of a TV drama. They liked each other, but never really fell in love. And then life happened; so they stuck together, trying to figure things out. 

Without saying a word Nino stood up and made them coffee; even though it was already twenty passed three in the morning and he should be better off sleeping. Making coffee gave him something to do for the time being. After pouring two mugs, he walked over to her and held one out for her to take. Danny looked up at him. She felt a bit dazed; as if it took a lot of will power to drag herself from what ever she was thinking about. Her eyes, filled with mixed emotions, had lingering tears in them. The simple nod of thanks before taking the mug made him feel a little more at ease. It also made him regain some his confidence as he took the seat next to her on the couch. He watched her struggle with a renewed set of emotions now that he was close again. 

Danny blew into her mug, face torn and tears welling up again. Nino reached out and pulled her head against his shoulder and neck. Danny didn't make a sound, but didn't resist. He let his head rest against hers, letting his hand rest on her shoulder. He could feel her sobs more than he heard them. They made her body shake.  
He wanted to pull her closer as she leaned into him, seemingly letting go of the pride of dealing with it on her own. But he left his arm around her shoulder, not trying to console her further. It was just there if she felt she needed his support. They drank their coffee in relative silence. It felt different now that they were actually sitting together again for the first time that evening. 

"Gomen ne," Danny breathed after a while.  
"Hm," he replied not knowing why she felt like she had to apologize.  
"Maybe I shouldn't have told you." Her voice was a mixture of regret and wonder if she did the right thing. It hurt more than he wanted to admit.  
"Keeping quiet would've made it worse. I'm glad you came by and decided to tell me." She looked up at him. A sad smile on her lips.

"You can forget about me now, ne," she said looking away again, letting silence follow her bitter words.  
"Hm," he said with a nod, more to see her reaction to his agreement than agreeing to her comment. But she didn't reply to it or gave any sign he had surprised her. So the silence continue between them.

The phone rang. Again.  
"Shouldn't you get that?" she asked Nino listening to familiar ringtone.  
"Shouldn't you have answered yours?" he gave back.  
"Do you know it's impolite to answer a question with a question?" they both said, although Nino used a slight mocking tone to imitate her answer. She always said the same thing when he countered her questions with his own. She smiled at his tone voice. Seeing the sly smile he gently squeezed her shoulder.

Danny shrugged: "I don't want to pick up, because I know who is calling." She didn't sound too happy about it.  
"Same here," Nino remarked, although by now it could be any one from the agency, management of one of his friends. And they'd all have the same thing to say.  
The ringing stopped. He sighed relieved. 

The phone rang again accompanied by knocking on the door. Outside someone called his name. Nino tried to ignore it as best as he could. Both him and Danny staring at the door by the intrusion. The knocking became pounding.  
"Should we hide behind the couch and pretend not to be here?" she whispered jokingly.  
"I'm not opening that door, unless you want to go home." He sounded rather stubborn and serious.  
Danny sighed, listening to the pounding and shouting outside of the house. She looked down to her folded hands as she leaned her arms on her knees.  
"Don't go start caring about me now, Nino-kun. You should just let me go." Nino leaned backwards propping leg up, leaning his arm on it.  
"I know," he told her staring at the ceiling, "But I don't want to give you up that easy."  
"There is nothing that connects you to me any more," she countered. " You need to think about your career. It has and always comes first." He knew what she was hinting at. 

"My career is set," he told her, "It will be fine."  
"Don't be an idiot," was her immediate reply, "It's never going to be just fine." Danny smiled but the smile failed to reach her eyes; they were dark and alarmed.  
"Either way, It's done and over with," she responded sounding like she had giving it more thought than he had. "Whether it was by choice or not. There is nothing left to say, is there?" 

There was another silence. The pounding had stopped, but she expected his phone to ring any second.  
"You should pick up the next time it rings."  
"What if I don't want to?" he remarked with a childish tone knowing she was right, but resenting it all the same.  
"It isn't as if you have a choice. It's your job! Heck, it's your life. You can't put it on hold for ever." She sighed returning the gaze to her folded hands. With a small voice she followed it up with: "Don't you think we did enough damage to ourselves for one day? Have you considered the consequences not answering the phone for the past few hours?"  
He had; it was the first thing that crossed his mind when it rang. That was the exact reason why he didn't want to pick up the phone now.  
"When do you have the shooting of your drama?" she asked, knowing his schedule for the week by heart, "It's around eight o'clock, right?"  
Nino nodded.  
"Can you drop me off at home before that?"  
"Yeah," he said reluctantly. "I can do that."  
"And then that will be that," she finished nodding, sounding final.  
"What if I want to see you again?" he tried not wanting to let it happen that fast.

Danny smiled a bit devious.  
"Try the yellow pages under escort service."  
"Ouch," Nino said grinning. "What if I get hungry?" he replied indicating to her catering and her cooking.  
Danny sighed. "In that case, I'll have Sakurai-san bring you a doggie bag from work."  
"What if-" Nino started as Danny put a hand on his lips and covered his mouth.  
"Don't," she warned facing him, "Let's just end this clean. Let's end this as friends."  
"You will never be just a friend," he countered with a sad undertone.  
"Don't give me that bullshit line, Nino," she said punching him lightly on the shoulder in a mock gesture to make him smile. Nino made a painful mock face and rubbed his fake sore shoulder.  
"It's not bullshit, though," he continued looking rather serious, "We might not love each other like we should. But we do like one another. I think it would be a shame if we couldn't hang out any more."

She smiled longing for his company.  
"We will," Danny said thinking about it, which she changed to, "We might." As she turned over the words in her mind they became: "I don't know if it's wise." Nino pulled her into a hug, whether she wanted to or not.  
"It will be okay, you hear me?" he whispered in her ear. Danny put her arms around him, keeping him close. "I will be there," he continued, encouraged by her tight hug, "Well, maybe not literally 'there' there." Danny could here the affection in his voice, "But I will make time, when ever you need me. As a friend, a close friend. I promise." Danny nodded against his shoulder.  
"I know," she whispered, "Same goes for me."

They let go and he wiped the stray tears from her cheeks. He sported a small sad smile which said 'It was fun while it lasted, but let's not go through that again.' Danny silently agreed.  
"Then I'll be leaving," she told him with a deep sigh to which Nino nodded.  
"I'll drop you off."

The phone rang and this time Nino answered as they left his house.  
Life continued as it always did.


End file.
